Highland Mary

Yeah banks and brayz, and streams aroond
The castle o’ Montgummry
Green be your woods, and fair your floo-erz
Your waters never drummly
There Simmer first unfawl’d her robes
And there the langest tarry; (hard G sound on langest)
For there I took the last Fareweel
O’ my sweet Hee’lan Mary.

How sweetly bloom’d the gay, green birk,
How rich the hawthorn’s blossom,
As underneath their fragrant shade,
I clasp’d her to my bosom!
The golden Hours on angel wings
Flew oo’er me and my Dearie;
For dear to me, as light and life,
Was my sweet Hee’lan Mary.

Wi’ moany a vow, and lock’d embrace,
Our parting was foo tender
And, pledging aft to meet again
We tore oorselz asunder;
But oh! fell Death’s untimely frost,
That nipt my Flower say early!
Noo green’s the sod, and cawld’s the clay
That wraps my Hee’lan’ Mary!

O pale, pale noo, those rosy lips
I aft hay kiss’d say fandly!
And cloased for eye, the sparkling glance
That dwah’lt on me say kindly!
And moald’ring now in silent dust,
That hayrt that loo’ed me dearly!
But still within my bosom’s core
Shall live my Hee’lan Mary.

Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas

• M9: Put the “s” of Christmas on beat two where the eight note is. Very crisp and sharp.
• M10: SAME (do this for all of these)
• M12: put “son” of season on beat two where the eighth note is.
• M17: no American “r” here. Use the consonant “d” in place of the “r”.
• M33: SOP/ALT make sure to come way back in dynamic level. You are not the melody here
• M33: TEN/BASS come forward here, you are melody. Make sure your diction is very crisp!
• M34: TEN/BASS breathe after “proof” M35: TEN/BASS change the word “s’merely” to “simply”
• M49: ALT/BASS watch your interval here. Circle this!
• M55: (bottom of page 31 last meas.) No breath until the word “year!” (bottom of pg 32)
• M89: no American “r” here. Use the consonant “d” in place of the “r”.
• M111: (bottom of pg 38, 2nd meas) No breath until the word “year!” (bottom of pg 39)

I'll Be Home for Christmas

• ALL….do not take this song for granted, it will be very difficult if you do. Sing what you see!
• M19: Sop, this will be a SOLO, sops, sing alto here.
• M34: The tempo will get faster here, watch!
• M57: Sop, this is a sop divide
• M67: SAME
• This song will be very beautiful, but we will spend a LOT of time working the harmonies here!

Swingin' With Santa Claus

• All: Do not sing what you know, sing what you SEE!
• M9: All, Make your cut offs short and detached here.
• M15: All, Rhythm is syncopated here, circle it.
• M17: Watch rhythm here, it is different
• M39: All, check notes here, the harmony is not easy.
• M59: SOLO through the bottom of page 9
• M67: Ten, Bass, you sing here. Watch rhythm.
• M78: Sop, Alt, come back in here.
• M109: All, Watch harmony here, it is not easy.
• M114: Tenor, you have different rhythm, here than everyone else.
• M120: All, no breath where it is marked.
• M121: All, circle this rhythm, it needs work!
• M125: Sop, divide to 1st and 2nd Soprano here. All altos stay together.
• M132: Sop, it is a sop divide here
• M135: Sop, it is a sop divide here too.

O Nata Lux

• M2: All, breathe after “lumine”
• M4: All, breathe after “supplicum”
• M5: All, breathe after “supplicum” (this is not a repeart, there are 2 supplicums)
• M7: Altos, breathe before “O Nata Lux” (wait for conductor cue to breathe)
• M7: Sop, Ten, Bass – Do NOT breathe until end of note.
• ALL: Anytime you have a “’” marking, take a breath.
• M13: Sop, be careful of this line, and tempo will be faster here.
• M18: All, watch tempo here and BIG crescendo to F on the next page.
• M37: Tenor, watch here, I will cue each note, it will be slow!
• M38: Altos, watch for the cue on this note.
• The key to singing this piece well is feeling the phrase, and getting through the Latin.

Mi Zeh Hidlik

• M1: Sop, make your “la, la’s” really crisp and sharp here
• All: PRACTICE YOUR HEBREW!!! It won’t get easier unless you work at it.
• All: Keep tempo fast and crisp
• Rehearsal F: Altos, this will be difficult, we will work this a lot!
• All: We will NOT take the optional short ending. We will sing the full song.

Christmas is the Best Time Of The Year

• M15: All, change dynamic level to Forte here.
• M24: Sop, it is a sop divide here.
• Watch your repeats!!
• M35: Circle the little sign here (looks like and “s” with a line through it and two dots). You will be coming back to this place.
• M41: Sop, Alt, this divide should be S1, S2, A
• M43: Choir, your are now unison on the top line. BUT you only sing this line the 2nd time through! Mark and circle this!
• M63: CHOIR, go back to M35 and sing the repeat. Circle this and mark where you are going.
• M78: Choir, you are singing the bottom two lines here. (it is only 2 measures long)
• M98: Sop, it is a sop divide here. An throughout the rest of the piece.

Heard About A Newborn King!

• M1: (the first FULL measure) All, place accent mark (looks like <) over “born”.
• M2: All, place accents over BOTH syllables of “Manger”
• M3: All, Place accent over “sing”
• M9: Bass, Big Large sound on “Oh, shepherds why…”
• All: Watch your dynamics throughout the piece. Circle them!!
• M34: All, put accents over all syllables of “hallelu”
• M66: Circle the repeat marking, you will come back to this.
• M73: All, after this measure, repeat back to M66.
• M78: SFZ means sharp accent, then immediately get softer (to Piano) then crescendo to Forte.

A Wreath of Carols

• TBA

Still, Still, Still

NUMBER YOUR MEASURES starting with 1
• M1: Really gentle open “ooh” vowel here.
• M5: SOP: do not scoop on 2nd note of “still” WRITE THIS IN
• M5: No breath after third “still”
• M9: change the note on the word “hushed” to and eight note with an eight rest after it to make the not on “hushed” very short.
• M10: breathe after “sleeping”
• M18: Breath after last note
• M45: Watch your rhythm here. It is dotted. Circle this in RED
• M50: Close the word “come” to the “m” sound by the last measure.

We Three Kings

• M7: Really open “ooh” vowel here
• M8: 2nd SOP: Sing middle note here
• M8-9: BARITONES: Sing middle note here
• M11: BASS, get your note from the Sopranos. It is a Bb6 chord
• M22: SOP/ALT: No breath in this phrase
• M26: TEN/BASS: No breath in this phrase
• M30: ALL: No breath in this phrase
• M34: Watch this rhythm, CIRCLE IT!
• M44: No breath in this phrase
• M48: Same
• M56: Watch rhythm
• M82: Get gradually softer here: down to MP
• M111: TEN/BASS watch your pitch here. Circle this phrase.
• M114: Breathe after the word “night”
• M130: Same
• M138: SFP means sharp accent, then immediately down to soft (p) then crescendo to FF
• M143: 2nd SOP sing middle notes here
• M145: BARITONE: Sing middle notes here

Gloria In Excelsis Deo

• M9: Do not breathe after the word “Gloria”
• M17: TEN/BASS be VERY sharp with your diction and rhythm here.
• M25: SOP/ALT no breath after the word “God”
• M27: SOP/ALT make sure to sing all the way through this note. Circle it!
• M29: SOP careful about the word “earth” don’t shout it.
• M29: SOP/ALT no American “r” on the word “earth”
• M41: Come way back in dynamic here, MP write it in color!
• M44: Crescendo here
• M47: Tenors be bold here
• M51: Everyone write a dynamic of MF here and crescendo through M55
• M61: Come back to Forte here
• M63: put the “x” of the word “pax” on the eight note rest at the end of the measure
• M67: Put the “s” of the word “voluntatis” on the downbeat of this measure
• M69: TEN/BASS sharp diction here
• M77: Make the word “Gloria!” short and almost staccato here, but do not sing “glo-ri-YA”

And So It Goes

• M1. ALL – Watch your rhythms here. Please circle anything that might be tricky so that you won’t make mistakes during performance.
• M5. ALL – This phrase starts with a 16th note. Circle it.
• M17. ALL – A solo comes in here, bring your “oohs” back to Piano (soft) here.
• M20. ALL – Take a breath on the 8th note rest that is marked.
• M23. ALL – There is a retard marked here, circle it.
• M25. ALL – Make the word “silence” really short. Almost Staccato.
• M28. ALL – “So I will” starts with a 16th note. Circle it.
• M33. ALL – Back to soft “ooh” behind the soloist
• M36. ALL – Change to “ah” and a slightly louder dynamic – MP, write this in.
• M40. ALL – “So I Would” starts with a 16th note. Circle it.
• M45. ALL – Big Ritard here and Crescendo to FORTE.
• M46. TENORS – Wait for me here, I will hold each note on the word “too”

Bewitched

• FEMALE SOLO at beginning
• MALE SOLO at M13.
• M21. ALL – 1st Entrance for choir Both parts are Unison
  DON’T BREATHE until M24. after “again”
• M27. ALTOS and TENORS – Breathe after “I”
• M29. ALL – NO breath until M32
• M35. ALTOS and TENORS – Breathe after “I”
• M37. TENORS and BASSES – No breath after “heart”
• M39. SOPRANOS and ALTOS – No breath after “cold”
• M41. TENORS and BASSES – No Breath after “laugh”
• M45. SOPRANOS and ALTOS – No breath until M49.
• M51. ALTOS, TENORS and BASSES – take a breath after “I”
• M54. SOPRANOS and ALTOS – Breathe after “him”
• M58. ALL – Crescendo to FORTE and also slow retard to the end of the piece.
• M59. ALTOS and TENORS – Breathe after “I”,
  This measure is also the end of the swing rhythm and we go back to straight eighths.
• M63. SOPRANOS and BASSES – Add a fermata to “I”
  TENORS and ALTOS – Watch me for entrance to “bewitched”, I will take it out of rhythm so watch for a cue. too”

Fly Me To The Moon

• Write this at the top of your score: “BRIGHT SOUND”
• M6. ALL – Keep sound forward and watch rhythm. Dynamic is FORTE!
• M14. ALL – Bring dynamic WAY back to MP (not MF)
• M16. ALL – Scoop a little on “play”
• M18. TENORS and BASSES – Harmony begins here, watch your notes!!
• M22. TENORS and BASSES – Watch rhythm in this section and change the second to last “doo” to “n”.
• M28. ALL – “kiss” needs to be REALLY short, with VERY little “s” sound. Circle this!
• M30. SOPARANOS and ALTOS – You are not melody here, bring the dynamic
  WAY back and keep it bright and breathy. Sing “off” of the voice here.
• KEEP THE SOUND BRIGHT in this section!!
• M43 ALL – Scoop a little on “love”
• M46. ALL – go back to BRIGHT sounds and FORTE. But make sure accents come through!
• M49. ALL – Key change needs to be REALLY accurate here, don’t slop through this!
• M76. SOPRANOS – ONLY 3 or 4 are needed on the top Notes, I will pick those,
  EVERYONE ELSE needs to sing the lower notes here. too”

If Music Be The Food Of Love